Detroit Lions: Who Finishes the Season if Jim Caldwell is Fired?

Another Detroit Lions loss has fans calling for Jim Caldwell’s firing. If it happens, who takes over might not be as obvious as it seems.

The Detroit Lions are a mess. It was on full display in their week four loss at the Chicago Bears as the offense was stagnant and disjointed and the defense got carved up by Bears backups at multiple positions.

Worst of all, the team just hasn’t looked prepared in any of the last three games – all losses. The Lions weren’t done any favors by starting with three road games in their first four but they haven’t done themselves any favors by going 1-3 in that stretch. At the very least, the home game against the Titans should have been a win and ending the first quarter of the season at least 2-2 was a reasonable expectation.

But the Lions failed to meet that expectation and so it is unsurprising that fans are now heavily calling for the firing of Jim Caldwell. Now, I’m dubious that firing Caldwell now rather than riding out the season will have any impact. Making a mid-season change can lead to a bounce in performance but my eyes see a team too deeply flawed to make much of a different in the short-term.

That being said, I have absolutely no problem if Bob Quinn decides sometime during the season that it is in the best interest of the team going forward to make a change. Quinn has dreams of taking the Lions to a place Jim Caldwell is not capable taking them.

If the Lions end up playing out the season with an interim head coach, it will have to be someone already within the organization. There just aren’t coaches available to come in during a season, so what the Lions have on their staff is what they have to work with. That being said, they have quite a few options to choose from.